Ren awoke several hours later, resting on the floor of the room where he had lost consciousness, a pillow under his head and a blanket draped over him. He sat up, letting his newly augmented mind attune to the world. He was alive, and power was coursing through him. More than that though, he had made his decision.

He stood and walked out of the room. Neeka was resting against the wall just outside. She stood immediately when he came out and said: "H-hello," her voice quivering with nervousness.

"Hi," he said. A wave of excited nerves seemed to pass through them both at once and they both smiled.

"Are you feeling better?" she said.

"I'm alright," he said. He paused, not understanding the etiquette of the subject he wanted to discuss. After a moment though he chose honesty over hesitation. "I don't know if I should have kissed you without asking."

Her breathing quickened slightly. "I... it's alright... I don't mind so much." She swallowed and took a step closer and said: "I mean, I've been wanting you to."

They looked into each other's eyes and they kissed again. Neeka giggled and put her hand over her lips. "I never knew what a kiss felt like," she said.

"Neither did I," he said.

"Once more," she whispered, and she leaned in and planted a soft, slow peck on his lips, and then drew back, blushing.

Dalvin's voice came in rather abruptly: "If anyone is interested, the syndicate ship landed. I had my trap ready, but it did very little good. Everyone on board was already dead. Interestingly, they were killed by lightsaber wounds."

"Dammit," Ren heard Cathock grunt. "The Sith got to them before us then?"

"Well no, actually," said Dalvin. "At least not any Sith that were already here. The wounds were inflicted before the ship landed."

"What about the ship's records?" said Ren.

"All gone, and the computers were all slashed to pieces with a lightsaber as well."

"Well, I don't suppose they matter too much anymore," said Ren. "I'm beginning to put things together in regards to Kalethian. So far as I can tell, the treasure you all want is in the ship deep under this world." A distant grain in the vast multitude of memory he had absorbed from Satral confirmed this.

"We should venture down," said Cathock. He came into the room rather suddenly and walked up to Ren, putting a hand on Ren's shoulder. "Are you ready to travel?" There seemed to be very genuine concern in his eyes and voice.

"I'm alright," said Ren.

"I'd like to leave quickly," Cathock said.

"Yes, give me just a few more minutes," said Ren.

"Alright," Cathock said. He began to examine a rifle and wandered slowly out of the room.

Ren turned and saw Neeka gazing at him. She smiled and reached down to his wrist computer and pressed against the power control, switching it off. Then she did the same to her own computer.

"What are you doing?" Ren said.

"I love Dalvin, but I want a moment without him listening in." She put her arms around his neck. "Things keep happening. I wanted a chance to talk to you for just a moment."

"Alright."

She smiled at him and whispered: "I want to thank you again for the several times you've saved my life. I was sure Cathock and I were going to die on that wretched space station before you came."

"I think I was only saving you then because I needed help."

"That's not true," she said, her voice full of reassuring certitude.

"I don't know if I'm worthy of such faith."

She gazed at him, and there was a glint of serene confidence in her brilliant yellow eyes. "Cathock and Malanctha both think I'm led around by my heart too much. The ironic part is that I was engineered and programmed not to have a heart." She looked into his eyes. "Your entire childhood was structured around learning to kill, just like mine, but just like me you found a way to keep your humanity."

"I don't know if I did," Ren whispered.

"Of course you did," she said with a little laugh. She looked at him, and seemed to sense his doubt. "You think I'm only saying that out of some, childish, simplistic faith? I can sense every cell in your body. My perceptions are much more developed than Cathock's. When we're this close, I can even feel the electrical signals and chemical shifts in your brain. I can tell all the ways you're feeling and I'm coming to understand how you think."

"And how do I think?"

"Like me."

Ren laughed aloud at this.

Neeka chuckled herself and said: "I don't mean we're mirrors of one another – only that you have something inside of you that nothing can touch. No matter how much you suffer or what comes at you, you won't give up – you won't even let yourself feel fear the way others do. You're like me like that. You've always known exactly who you were without anyone telling you, and you'll never compromise that because it's the only thing you've ever truly had for yourself."

For one of the first times in his life, Ren was struck utterly dumb. The words seemed to cut to the core of his being. He looked at Neeka, wondering how she could have seen right into his heart. He wanted to speak, but couldn't find the words.

"That's why I feel so much for you," she said.

It seemed as though time slowed to a crawl around the two of them, and all ambient sound and sight faded away. He couldn't even think. He could only feel a flood of emotion too vast to analyze.

"It's alright," she said in a soft voice. "I know you're not ready for this. I just had to tell you in case I die, or in case you do." She touched his face. "Just relax, you don't have to do anything except know that someone cares about you." She smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek, and then turned around and walked out of the room.

Ren stood there. He felt peaceful as he had never felt. He was utterly content inside, and utterly – what was it? He had no vocabulary for such a sensation. It only seemed that his life had taken on a weight it had never before known.

With all of these thoughts running through his mind, he could not help but replay Neeka's words in his mind. He wondered if she was right. On all the desolate, horrible words where his mother had dropped him into loneliness and violence, how had his inner mind held fast and developed as it had? What had kept him from insanity? He had only been a small child when it all began. He had long believed that it was his empathic gifts through the Force that had saved him, but for the very first time he wondered if it had been the other way around. Had his young mind, in order to protect itself from everything that was happening, somehow reached out to the whole universe for nourishment? He had been on planets filled with terrible predators with himself as the only intelligent life form on the whole sphere, and yet he had never felt truly alone.

His eyes shifted suddenly to the cloth that covered the doorway an instant before Cathock's thick hand slipped under it and drew it aside. Cathock entered the room and gazed at him.

"I don't know what you and Neeka discussed," Cathock said, and there seemed to be a bit of awkwardness in his voice an manner. The engineered super soldier was uncomfortable with his sister's romance with him. This was something Ren could understand, given who he was. Cathock continued: "The mandalorians won't stay fooled by Dalvin's tricks forever. They're going to come down here looking for their men."

"No they aren't," said Ren. "We're going to go up and see them."

"Excuse me?" Cathock's feline features contorted into a scrutinizing glare.

"You specifically need to go up there and become their leader."

"What?!" Cathock was incredulous, and a little irritated.

"I would do it myself, but mandalorians are distrustful of the Force and those who wield it. However, they have enormous respect the kind of fighting prowess you possess."

"And what is it you're expecting me to do?' said Cathock.

"Kill their leader in single combat. If you do that, the rest of them will kneel to you."

"And am I supposed to just walk up to their ship and ask politely for this death match?"

"Let me handle that part," said Ren. "I just need to know, are you willing to do it?"

"What's the purpose?" said Cathock.

"The Sith have outnumber us more than twenty-to-one. We are all dead if we don't deal with that."

Cathock took a slow, uncomfortable breath. "I suppose... I'll do it, provided you can actually arrange a fight and guarantee that they're not all going to shoot me as soon as I show my face."

"Don't worry, I have an idea," Ren said. He switched on his wrist computer and said "Hey, Dalvin."

"Where the hell did you go?" Dalvin's voice came back in a static hiss as the communication system recalibrated itself.

Ren ignored the question and said: "I need you to patch me into the mandalorian communication system and put my voice through to as many of them at once as you can. I also need you to make my voice sound exactly like Cathock's when it's received."

"Easy enough," said Dalvin. There was perhaps a six second pause and then a glowing red button appeared on Ren's wrist screen that said: Tap to Initiate. "You're ready to go with every single mandalorian on this planet."

Ren chuckled. Dalvin was beyond superb. "Alright, I think this should work." Ren took a moment to compose his thoughts. He had battled mandalorians more than any other group in the galaxy and he had learned all about their militaristic culture and customs by ripping the knowledge from the minds of those he killed. Being mandalorian did not mean being born of a particular race, as many believed, but was instead a sort of religion. Anyone could become a mandalorian and even achieve the rank of Manda'lore, provided he or she took the necessary steps.

Ren tapped the button and began to speak in a way he had heard many arrogant warriors speak: "Greetings to all mandalorians on this planet. My name is Cathock Deathclaw." He made up the surname on the spot, and he felt a surge of annoyance from Cathock's mind, but he went on: "I am a biologically engineered warrior and I am stronger, faster, and deadlier than anything any of you have ever fought. Your scouts attacked me and I killed them. Your men fought bravely though – enough to earn my respect – and rather than kill all of you I would invite you to join me in taking this planet's treasures from the Sith who are here." He spoke the word "Sith" in a tone of venomous disgust. "I know, unlike those devious sorcerers, I can trust real warriors like yourselves. Therefore, I challenge your Alor'ad for leadership of your group." Ren hoped he was guessing the rank correctly. "If he is not a coward, let him face me so that one of us can clearly prove his strength over the other." Ren tapped the icon again, ending the communication.

"Do you actually believe something that stupid is going to work?" said Cathock.

A few seconds later Ren's wrist computer beeped and a very angry sounding voice said: "This is Alor'ad Megas Narsak. If you are the one who has killed my men, I will gladly fight you to the death. I will face you in full view of my forces. Come to our ship if you have the courage. I warn you though, if there is even a hint of treachery you will be fired upon by every one of my remaining men."

"Understood," said Ren, tapping the button again. "I will be there in twenty standard minutes." He cut the communication and turned to Cathock and said: "We don't want to give him too much time to strategize."

"And you believe they won't just open fire as soon as I appear?" said Cathock.

"Their Alor'ad accepted a challenge from you. If he doesn't fight you, his men will lose all respect for him and revolt."

"This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of," said Cathock.

"Trust me. I have faced and killed hundreds of mandalorians. I know exactly how their philosophy works. This plan will succeed."

Cathock looked at Ren for a long moment in silence. "Trust you," he said. "You've been a very good ally, Ren, and you treated me very honorably after our... fight. Still, even after all of that, you just have to understand that I was programmed for years to think of Sith as treacherous murdering wretches who needed to be eliminated. It's difficult to let that go completely."

"Neeka doesn't seem to have a problem," said Ren.

Cathock grimaced slightly. "No, she doesn't."

Ren could not think of anything else to say to Cathock to convince him, so he said plainly: "The fight is in nineteen standard minutes now. Will you go?"

"Yes," said Cathock.

"Follow me then, I think I can feel out the most direct rout with the Force," said Ren.

They walked out of the door silently and found Neeka waiting just outside. "I heard your broadcast," she said. "You do a very convincing Cathock, but this is dangerous. Are you sure?"

"I sense no deception from the mandalorians," said Ren. "I cannot sense the Sith as easily. I suppose they might interfere, but then they might just as easily attack us here. It's better to take action in such circumstances."

"I agree," Dalvin's voice said. "I'm intercepting all of their communications. There aren't any orders circulating around that conflict with the message you received. Aside from wondering how the hell you spoke to everyone at once, this doesn't seem to be an altogether unusual occurrence for this particular group of mandalorians. In fact, according to their logs, leadership has changed hands three times in the last five years through combat challenges. It's actually pretty hilarious." They all heard Dalvin chuckle, and they heard what sounded like an odd, metallic twinge to his voice.

"Alright, I'll trust your judgment," said Neeka.

"We should go then. Are you both ready?" Neeka and Cathock gave him nods. "Alright then, follow me." Ren summoned the Force and whipped across the stone floor to the cave tunnel that felt right. The Force was guiding him better than ever after his second encounter with Kalethian's knowledge. He didn't have to think about where to go at all, and the drain on his Force energy from moving so fast seemed nearly imperceptible.

Ren, Neeka, and Cathock emerged to the planet's surface some fifteen standard minutes later. The sun had sunken low in the sky and it was evening on the rocky, mossy terrain. The mandalorian ship – a large, meaty vessel with fairly heavy guns – sat visibly opposite the setting sun. In front of it, some thirty mandalorian warriors stood in formation with guns resting across their right shoulders.

Ren decided not to conceal himself with his powers. He was very obviously a Force adept from the way he dressed and the four light sabers snapped to his belt. That might be to all of their advantages. If the mandalorians thought that Cathock was mighty enough to command a Sith or a Jedi, that would only add to his prestige. Instead he walked at Cathock's side, just a bit behind, as if displaying that he were not the head of the pack.

"Look confident," Ren whispered as they drew nearer.

Cathock bore his fangs in annoyance, but straightened up and shifted his walk so that he swaggered ever so slightly. They moved over the terrain together, directly into the center of the mandalorian army. This would have been an incredibly stupid move if it were any other group of opponents, but most mandalorians valued courage over calculation.

Still, Dalvin did not seem to be entirely confident in the arrangement, for just as they came to a stop in the center of the mandalorian group, Dalvin's ship whizzed up behind them on the horizon. It hovered in the air just out of range of the rifles below, and the lenses of its guns glowed, giving evidence that they were ready to fire in an instant. What was more interesting though was that at least thirty remotes hovered around the ship, also looking ready to fire.

"What is this?!" a very tall mandalorian in dark yellow armor growled, stepping forward. Ren sensed this was the Alor'ad.

"Just a precaution," Ren said quickly, stepping forward. My master assumes that you are honorable, but if you are not he wishes to make sure you all die. That is all."

The answer seemed to impress many of the mandalorian soldiers, who were already looking through their helmet visors, Ren sensed, with admiration and anticipation. The idea of a new leader excited them, especially one as massive and terrifying as Cathock. The Alor'ad too seemed deeply impressed with Cathock, but in a very different way: he already knew he was going to lose.

"You, Sith," the leader hissed across the three or four meter gap between them, "are you connected to the group we've been hunting?"

"No," Ren called back.

"We will not tolerate treachery." He turned to his men and said: "If this little sorcerer moves even a finger during our battle, kill him."

Ren's hand edged ever so slightly closer to the hilt of high lightsaber, but he said nothing to this. Instead he stood firm next to Cathock who, oddly, began to emit nervous psychic energy. Neeka seemed to pick up on Cathock's emotions as well, for she put her hand on his shoulder and whispered: "Are you alright?"

"I don't like this," he whispered back. "I've only ever killed when I've had to. This is murdering a man to take his position."

Dalvin's voice crackled in: "You're saying this now?"

"This man ordered children to be taken hostage," Ren said.

"I know," Cathock said in a low voice. He gripped the handle of his sword, but Ren still felt waves of anxiety. Neeka locked eyes with Ren and he saw tremendous concern in her face for her brother. Ren took a breath. He had not considered this eventuality. It had not occurred to him that, while Neeka and Cathock were warriors of the most superb skill and talent, they were not true killers like he was. They were still afraid of losing what Ren supposed he had long since lost. The realization left him feeling cold and empty, but he had little time to dwell on it. The situation required action.